Posted on 01/01/2010 4:46:43 PM PST by rawhide
A 4-year-old boy attending a New Year's Eve church service with his family was killed when a stray bullet came through the roof, hitting him in the head.
The boy, Marquel Peters, was sitting beside his mother in the sanctuary during an intermission, said Lloyd Phipps, senior pastor at the Church of God of Prophecy near Decatur.
About 350 people were gathered in the DeKalb County church on Covington Drive, waiting for a concert to begin at 12:30 a.m. Friday, Phipps said.
"We heard a loud pop, which we now assume was when the bullet came through the roof," Phipps said.
The child, who had been playing a video game moments before the incident, fell to the floor.
"He appeared to be unconscious at first, and then he started crying," Phipps said.
Phipps said the church members prayed for the child, and continued with the planned concert, believing the child would survive his injury.
The child was rushed to a hospital, where he later died, according to Officer Jason Gagnon with DeKalb police.
The pastor and the parishioners where still in the church when they learned of the child's death about 3:30 a.m., Phipps said. He said during the concert, the boy's family kept him updated on the child's condition, which he believed was improving.
Investigators returned to the church later Friday, where they discovered the point of entry for the bullet: in the roof of the church. Phipps said police believe someone fired a celebratory shot into the air, and it went through the roof on its way down.
"It's one of those things that you just cannot make any sense out of," Phipps said. "This lady took her kid to church, which is the right thing to do. And her son got killed because of someone’s irresponsible behavior."
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
I don’t know. There was a segment on a Shreveport, LA TV station after Christmas showing a hole in the roof and ceiling of a House trailer. I can’t remember if it damaged the the floor.
I have no trouble believing it.
When I first saw the report I assumed it was Miami. Every 4th of July, New Years Eve or Halloween at least one person is killed by a stray bullet shot in celebrations. Often more than one.
I also saw Myth Busters most likely the bullet was stll on its direct path - someone shot at the top of the church for this to happen.
Sadly, a small child was killed with his parents sitting there. Prayers for the family.
The forward velocity probably doesn’t mean much. What’s important is the terminal velocity. If the bullet is flopping around in the wind it has a fairly low terminal velocity due to a high drag coefficient and large cross section (actually they’d be constantly variable as the bullet flopped around). If it’s still stable and pointing nose down it has a very low drag coefficient and small cross section, which means it can hit a much higher terminal velocity, probably in the hundreds of meters per second.
I saw it on the news this morning, Happened just as described.
>You are mistaken. I allowed for practice with the weapon.
What you said was:
“There is no excuse for discharging a killing tool for other than it’s designed purpose, including practice.”
The way it is written ‘including’ attaches ‘practice’ to the no excuse clause. That is, what you are saying and hat you meant to say are two incredibly different things.
>You are mistaken. I allowed for practice with the weapon.
What you said was:
“There is no excuse for discharging a killing tool for other than it’s designed purpose, including practice.”
The way it is written ‘including’ attaches ‘practice’ to the no excuse clause. That is, what you are saying and hat you meant to say are two incredibly different things.
If you say so...sorry for the confusion.
You’re an idiot.
I think it is safe to assume that the bullet was not fired straight up or at any high angle to have killed that little boy. I was refuting the "Myth Busters" negative finding on this, since we do know that the boy was killed by a bullet that came through the roof. Now, either the boy died of something else, or a bullet came through the ceiling.
I am assuming that the boy was killed by exactly what they thought killed him. "Myth Busters" could be wrong or the trajectory wasn't the same as assumed by that "highly scientific source". Do you belive that something you see on TV just HAS to be fact, refuting all other evidence?
By the way, the figures you are using are related to "maximum effective range". Bullets carry a lot farther than that. The MER is a judgement upon a weapon's use in a military context.
Rifle bullets do travel farther, much farther. Handgun bullets do not. I am not a fan of myth busters. I think they are idiots.
My numbers have nothing to do with rifles.
I think we are in agreement, but each of us just likes to “pick different nits”.
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